Birth
by HeartOfDarkess
Summary: Edward has just delivered Renesmee, and is trying to assist with Bella's transformation. What happens when this appears to be failing? Will a hero step in? EPOV. Please READ AND REVIEW!


**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or any of Stephanie Meyer's characters; otherwise I'd be sailing around the Caribbean!**

**Please review, as I'm also working on an original novel.**

* * *

EPOV

I had not known pain this great. Not since Carlisle had changed me a hundred years before. As she lay there, under my cold hard hands, motionless, lifeless, I could not believe I had allowed this. I was selfish. So very selfish. I wanted to die at the hands of the devil, to be damned to the fires of hell forever, for what I had done.

"Wake up my love. Please!" I begged, knowing that her heart had already stopped hours ago. Her blood lay congealed and dormant through her body, which should be writhing in pain by now. Up until a few moments ago, I had continued to pump her hardened heart with futility, never stopping, even though there was no change. No response. For three hours now.

Clinging on against all hope, I decided that even after the injection of more venom than any other human could withstand, I would bite once again in case the already administered poison was not enough. I whispered into her ear, "Please, love. I can't live without you. Come back to me."

With that, I plunged my teeth into the brittle skin of her throat, which had turned so once the colour had drained from her cheeks. This was not normal. Her skin should not have been so easy to pierce. Under the fluorescent light, it glowed like mother of pearl, but did not have the diamond-like glitter of mine, nor the hardness. She had to return to me. I had to make this work.

As the blood entered my mouth I continued to pull the thick, viscous fluid from her body to stimulate yet more venom to well in my mouth. My teeth hit bone as they deepened their hold on her, injecting the elixir of immortality into her system. After a moment, I lovingly encircled my tongue over the wound as I released. Her skin was abnormally half human, half vampire. Suspended there. No moving forward and never again to turn back.

As the minutes ticked by, I finally gave in to what was inevitable. "Carlisle," I whispered as I stood there motionless, having given up on trying to revive her. He was there suddenly, my only voice of reason in the chaos of this situation.

He put a comforting arm on my shoulder and said, "Son, you have done all you can, but this reaction is unlike anything I've witnessed before. The change should have progressed further by now, so I cannot tell you how this will end. I'm so sorry, Edward."

"It's NOT going to end!" I said through clenched teeth, as I pushed his hand away. I leant over her beautiful face and rested my forehead on hers, wordlessly willing her eyes to open, or her mouth to scream in pain. Instead, silence. Nothing but silence. The silence was more than I could bear in that moment. There was a simple beauty in her stillness nonetheless, even with all human expression gone forever. I knew that something needed to happen before it was too late. Precious seconds had turned into minutes, and minutes had turned into hours.

"Perhaps there are anomalies that we have not calculated on yet, Edward," he reasoned, trying to reassure me.

"This is not a damned mathematical equation, Carlisle. This is the woman I love that you're talking about!" I hissed.

Ignoring my temper tantrum, Carlisle continued to speak in his soft, authoritative voice, and said, "Nonetheless, I will continue with my research. I'm waiting to hear from Alistair about the vampires that he came across in the Amazon. He's not the easiest to get in touch with, with him being on the run from the Volturi."

I tried to calm myself. Getting angry with him would not serve well to finding a solution to this problem. I looked at my father. Carlisle had a way about him. If there was ever a perfect person to conduct peace-keeping negotiations or free a hostage it would be him. I forced a smile and said, "Thank you Carlisle. Do what you can to find an answer."

"I will, Edward," he said, his brows pulled together as he looked at my wife. We both stood there silently, trying to solve the unsolvable riddle.

She lay there still, her once blushing cheeks giving way to pallor, her once soft and delicious skin becoming something in between human and vampire, and most of all, her human scent dulling and yet becoming much more potent and appealing to me than ever before. Nearly like an aphrodisiac. I pushed those thoughts out of my mind. Those thoughts are what got me here in the first place. I was so evil. An abomination.

Carlisle interrupted my thoughts. "Edward, I know you have a lot on your mind at the moment, but there is something I need to discuss with you."

"What is it?" I replied, already knowing the answer.

"Renesmee is doing well son, but she needs her father. Perhaps I could continue here while you tend to her," he pressed.

As much as I was in awe of my newly born daughter, I thought about what her birth had brought down upon the only woman I would ever love.

I had waited many long years to find Bella, and I could not believe how the seconds and minutes that passed now seemed to do so in a blur, each ticking second taking her further away from me and becoming ever closer to sending her into oblivion.

In my century of existence, I had never been so unable to think of a solution to a problem. My mind was always filled with clarity, decisiveness and the ability to analyse all situations, inevitably coming to the correct conclusion on every occasion. Now, I was at a loss, my emotions warring within, between my love for my wife and the beating heart that waited for me downstairs.

"No, I will never leave her," I whispered, torn; my normally compartmentalised vampiric mind becoming scrambled and illogical.

"Well then, it seems you have left me no choice. Rosalie will bring her to you. She needs her father as well as her mother," he insisted, realising my internal battle. Before I could argue, he left the room to fetch my daughter. Of course, our daughter had been kept away from her mother, who may have posed potential danger, but now that danger did not seem to exist.

I climbed on the bed and lay next to my wife, kissing her cheek, trying to expel the building tears that would never flow from my golden eyes. "I cannot exist in a world without you, Bella. Don't give up. Fight my love," I murmured in her ear.

Rosalie appeared at the door, holding our beautiful daughter. She was swaddled in a royal blue blanket, the colour that Bella always looked her best in. Renesmee's face peeked through the top of the blanket, as she raised her head to take me in. Her cheeks were bright pink and she had the deep chocolate brown eyes of her mother that stared at me with unabated curiosity. She reached her hand out for me from under the blanket, and with lightning speed I was off the bed and beside her. For a brief moment, Renesmee's hand brushed against Rosalie's face as I took her into my arms.

Rosalie gasped and said, "What was that?" In reaction, I immediately read her mind, trying to comprehend what had just transpired. Bella's face had made its one and only appearance in Rosalie's thoughts, though briefly. Rosalie never thought of Bella, even when she was caring for her before she gave birth.

"How curious," I muttered.

Rosalie looked at Renesmee intently and cooed, "She's more special than all the babies of the universe put together, Edward. It seems that she wanted to show me her mother."

"Is that even possible?" I said as I cocked my eyebrow.

"Who knows," she speculated. "She is half human and half vampire, and that's not something we've had to deal with before. Besides, her father does have mind-reading abilities."

"She is one of a kind," I confirmed as I looked at my daughter lovingly. As I rocked her gently in my arms, she stared up into my eyes, captivating me. I wondered if all that Renesmee would have left of her mother was going to be in her mind. I desperately wanted her to have more than distant memories to get her through the rest of her life. Grim reality overshadowed the special moment of me holding my daughter for the very first time.

"Bella, I'd like you to meet our daughter, Renesmee," I said through saddened eyes, as I stood next to the bed and showed her our prize.

Suddenly, an idea struck. I had read some years before that coma patients reacted to the voice or touch of their loved ones; in some instances bringing them out of comas entirely. I now wondered that if Bella had Renesmee close to her, she would somehow respond and that her transformation would be a success. Or at the very worst, this would be an opportunity for them to say goodbye.

I removed the blanket from around our daughter and laid her face down across her mother's chest, turning her head to face me. Her heart thrummed unevenly as she cooed into her mother's breast and nuzzled into her neck, one solitary tear falling down her heartbroken, cherubic face.

I lay beside them on the bed and wrapped my arms around them, encircling the two most important people in my life, and my daughter reached her hand out and touched me on the chin as I did so. My eyes fluttered closed as she showed me the pictures in her mind.

"What?" I gasped as my eyes opened wide in shock as I realised what I was seeing. She had just given me a first-hand account of her arrival into this world. She was only a few hours old, yet her mind seemed so much more developed. So much more than any human baby should ever be, but of course, she was anything but human.

My daughter flinched and withdrew her hand, staring at me with a look of confusion, her tears now flowing with a vengeance. She cried silently, not a whimper or sound coming from her rosebud lips. I knew in an instant that she was worried that she had upset me.

"It's alright my Renesmee, I'm not upset," I whispered to her in comfort, stroking her beautiful bronze curls and taking her hand in mine, pressing my stone cold lips to her warm soft fingers. "You just took me by surprise," I continued as I held her closely, pressing her body into her mother further. Her mind suddenly became a hive of activity, opening up to me like the blossoming flowers of our meadow. Her tears subsided and she smiled at me, happy that I was able to see her mind without becoming distressed.

After what seemed an eternity, she yawned and began to breathe deeply. Her deep brown eyes fluttered closed, and she succumbed to the call of slumber's rest. I immediately knew what she was capable of. She was incredible. I was the only person who could, of course, read her thoughts clearly without the need of touch, but I now wondered, after what had happened with Rosalie, if she could do this with others. I put her hand onto her mother's chest and concentrated solely on her mind, trying to get any clues I could as to its inner workings. As she slept, her dreams were vivid and beautiful. Colours that I could not have ever imagined before danced inside her head as blurred visions of Bella, intermingled with my face as well as the rest of the family, captured my imagination. It was mesmerising.

As I continued to watch Renesmee sleep, I leant into Bella's ear and whispered, "Do you know how special our daughter is? She's beautiful, looks just as good in blue as you do, and I am certain that she can project images from her mind to others with one simple touch. Only you could give me such a unique and wonderful gift, my love." I lay there, holding my two most precious possessions, wishing more than anything that they would remain with me forever.

Still nestled on her mother's chest, Renesmee stirred from her slumber, opened her eyes and looked at me with curiosity burning in her beautiful eyes. She once again touched my face with her hand, inviting me into her mind as if it were an open book.

She showed me her memories of being inside her mother, surrounded by darkness, safety and the muffled voice of my beloved Bella. A peaceful, floating feeling invaded my mind as the next sound, the rhythmic thudding of Bella's long still heart, enveloped me. This was a comforting sound indeed; and one that I knew was lost forever. I now knew the deep connection that Renesmee shared with her mother. This unbreakable bond was truly overwhelming. I also understood why Bella was so compelled to follow this pregnancy through to the bitter end.

Suddenly, she let out a tiny hiss and bit deeply into her mother's throat.

I leant in closer still and put my head on Bella's chest, staring eye to eye with my daughter. "No Renesmee," I chastised gently, stroking her curls. "You must not bite your mother."

"Edward, can you hear me?" said Bella's faint voice as it echoed through my mind. My body froze in reaction as my analytical mind tried to reason what I had just heard. It did not make sense. I came to the conclusion that I had finally lost my mind, brought on bygrief and loss.

"Edward?" she repeated, her voice not so much an echo any longer.

I pressed my face deeply into her chest cavity, trying to make as much body contact as possible. Renesmee smiled at me and her hand began to stroke my face, comforting me. After processing what I had heard, taking all of three seconds, I spoke to my wife.

"Bella, love. Can you hear me or am I slowly beginning to lose my mind?" I sobbed dryly into her pearly skin, breathing her essence.

"I can hear you, but I can't see you Edward. What happened?"

"This cannot be real," I muttered as I closed my eyes, hoping that it was not my mind playing tricks on me. Suddenly, the connection between us deepened as Renesmee showed me more pictures from her mind, which seemed to be mixing with Bella's thoughts and memories.

"What the hell?" I exclaimed, as my eyes shot open and I sat up on the bed. Renesmee reached out to me, beckoning me to return, letting out a little cry in frustration to make her point.

I looked down at my daughter and took a deep breath. "I'm sorry, Renesmee," I apologised as I lay down and put my face back on Bella's chest. "Now it seems that your mother is taking me by surprise. I should have expected as much. Your mother has always had the ability to surprise me." Renesmee cooed and put her hand on my face once again.

"Edward? What's going on?" Bella said, panic in her voice.

I now knew that during her time in her mother's womb, she had not only become aware of Bella, but she had also discovered her mother's shield. She knew how to penetrate that shield as no-one else could, myself, Aro and Jane included, and had regularly read her mother's mind in-vitro. I was all of a sudden becoming privy to Bella's past thoughts as she had remembered them when pregnant with Renesmee. If I had the ability to blush, my face would be burning red at this very moment.

I cleared my throat and said, "Bella, your transformation seems to have ceased. Your heart has stopped, but the change has not progressed in hours now. Can you try to move a finger or open your eyes?"

"No, I can't. Nothing I try seems to work," Bella said, her frustrated voice becoming clearer with each passing word.

Renesmee immediately moved over to the other side of Bella's neck and sunk her teeth into her once again.

"NO!" Bella screamed in pain from inside her tortured mind. "What happened? I felt a sharp pain in my neck."

"Bella, you felt that?" I queried with a sense of relief. A physical response had finally been elicited from her rigid, lifeless body. "My love, that was Renesmee," I confirmed.

Renesmee tensed and tears filled her innocent eyes as she realised that she had hurt her mother.

"Don't fret Renesmee," I murmured, my fingers once again running through her glorious locks. "You have done well to make your mother respond. Everything will be fine, little one."

"I want to see my baby," Bella said in desperation, as her sobs entered my mind loud and clear. "And I need to see you too, Edward!"

"Bella, if all goes well you will be able to see us soon. I think that Renesmee's venom is somehow helping things along. Don't be upset love, everything will be alright."

The entire family had suddenly appeared at the door, watching in amazement as little Renesmee bit down on her mother one more time.

Bella's blood curdling scream entered our minds, so violent that it felt like every last bit of her life force would be taken from her in that moment. Renesmee cringed in her mother's arms. This was more than any child should have to endure.

Suddenly, Bella's body began to twitch, each muscle having a mind of it's own.

I stood up from the bed and took Renesmee in my arms, wrapping her in the royal blue blanket, wordlessly comforting her. As much as I wanted Renesmee to have direct contact with her mother so that I could communicate with her, it was distressing her to no end. There was also every chance that Bella could wake and hurt our baby, and if the transformation was going to now progress as I had hoped, I did not want Renesmee to see her mother writhing in pain for hour after endless hour. Now was the time to take evasive action.

"Rosalie," I said, "Please take Renesmee to the cottage." She was at my side in an instant.

Images of Bella waking entered my mind as Alice's prediction unfolded before me. I was in the room, standing alone with her and felt an amazing sense of relief and then....intense desire?

As I handed my daughter to Rosalie, I cleared my throat and glanced to the rest of my family. "It may be best if you left us alone. Perhaps a hunting trip is in order." As Bella's transformation was not following usual patterns, I was not going to risk anyone else witnessing what I felt might occur when she woke.

"Edward, do you think that's wise?" Carlisle speculated as he hesitated at the door.

Suddenly I heard Alice recite lines from Romeo and Juliet in her head, blocking out the rest of her vision to me, then let out a peeling laugh. "Don't worry Carlisle, I've seen it. Everything will be fine. Bella's now going to make it through this, thanks to Renesmee's unusual venom. Edward will be able to take care of her. Now let's leave these two lovebirds alone!" she said as she grabbed Carlisle by the arm and dragged him towards the door. The others followed suit.

As Alice walked out the door, she glared at me and poked her tongue out. At the very same time I heard her repeatedly reciting the words to the national anthem in her head. I shook my head and smiled crookedly at her. I would have to ask her about that later.

Suddenly, we were alone and I turned my attention back to my beautiful wife.

I noticed that spots of blood were still oozing from the wounds that Renesmee had made and I leant in and swathed them with my tongue, instantly sealing in Renesmee's venom. As my tongue grazed her skin, I was relieved to discover that it had now hardened to match my own and the temperature of her skin no longer felt any different to mine.

My nose brushed against her glorious throat, and in that moment I realised that scent had changed once again. It had become the most potent, heartbreakingly irresistible scent that I had ever imbibed in my hundred years of existence. One thousand times more potent than when Bella was human. My tongue lingered on her throat a little longer than was necessary as I luxuriated in her aroma.

_Keep it together Edward. _I was thankful in that moment that my family could not read my mind, which had suddenly descended into the gutter.

Trying to regain my composure, I moved my mouth away from her skin and shifted from her side, watching for any movements from her body. After a few moments, Bella's body convulsed and her back arched upwards off the bed. A blood-curdling scream then escaped her lips as her eyes fluttered and rolled, the whites of them the only thing in view. It was finally happening.

Suddenly, she sat bolt upright and a growling hiss came from deep within her chest. Her bright crimson eyes shot open in an instant as she jumped off the bed and crouched. She had come back to me.

I stood very still, hands in the air, and calmly said "Bella love, don't be frightened. I'm not going to harm you."

She continued to remain crouched, ready to pounce at a split seconds notice. Her crimson eyes darted everywhere as she surveyed the room, and she turned her gaze to me and licked her lips. If I still had a heart, it would be pounding out of my chest as my eyes scanned every part of her, taking in her glorious form. She was magnificent! She slowly rose out of her position of attack, never taking her eyes off me as one side of her mouth curled up into a devilish smile. Desire overwhelmed her face as she took a step sideways and began to stalk me. My hands were still raised in the air in submission, trying to reassure her without saying a word, but I realised, then and there, that I was being hunted.

"Edward," she peeled, her melodic, wind chime voice music to my ears. "Edward...I need you," she purred as she circled the room, closing in on her prey.

"Bella, I know this is confusing for you, but you need to calm down. I'm not going to hurt......"

Mid sentence, she recoiled and sprang at me, knocking me to the ground, the wall behind my head breaking under the impact. Her body covered me. Her strength was overwhelming. I was unable to move. Not that I wanted to. As I said before, I was evil. And selfish. And damned to hell. I knew one thing in that moment. I was going to make my ticket to damnation well worth the price of admission.

She stared longingly into my eyes and repeated in a commanding voice, "Edward, I need you. NOW!" Her glorious face was inches from mine as she breathed into my face. I closed my eyes and once again let her scent overwhelm me for a moment.

Thoughts of lust and confusion raced through my mind as I tried to absorb what she was conveying. I opened my eyes and searched her face for an answer, but need not look any further than her crimson eyes, which seemed to darken as her excitement increased. I knew exactly what she wanted. I knew it was what I wanted desperately, more than anything. Selfish, selfish, selfish.

This transformation had broken all the rules, and for once I was grateful of that fact. It had brought her back to me and our daughter had redeemed herself by saving the life she had nearly taken.

And now? Now my beautiful wife wanted my body when I was prepared to forgo our physical relationship for at least one year. Breaking the rules. She was evil. I was evil. We were both selfish and I loved it. Revelled in it.

She pinned my arms to the floor and leaned in to skim her nose up and down my throat. A hiss rose up her throat as she inhaled my scent. "Mmmm. You smell delicious," she moaned.

I took the opportunity to tilt my head and breathe in her exquisite scent once again. I immediately became aroused and though I didn't need to breathe, I did so as deeply as possible, increasing my need. "I need you too my love," I said smoothly, my words rolling easily off my venom coated tongue.

With that invitation, she slithered her tongue up my throat and to my earlobe, whispering under her cool breath, "This time, Edward, I don't want you to hold back anything from me. I can take whatever you want to give."

"Your wish, my command," I replied, breathless as she continued to rain kisses across my jaw, finally arriving at my mouth. As she released my arms my hands trailed up her body, across her back and to her face as we kissed. I began to lose control, sinking into the oblivion that was her and her alone.

"Bella my love, I'm so happy you came back to me," I whispered into her mouth. I pulled her in closer and kissed her deeply, no longer fearing the venom pooling my mouth. It was now a source of pleasure as our mouths moved together with abandon.

She smiled as she released my mouth and suddenly sat up and straddled my hips, ripping off the blue satin dress that Alice had dressed her in after giving birth. I stared open mouthed at her beauty, the only thing she wore now was a pink lace bra and boy leg panties. "My my, Alice will be upset with me now," she said seductively.

"Well then let us get her really upset," I said evilly, suddenly ripping open my new designer shirt, sending buttons scattering across the floor.

We laughed together at our behaviour, knowing the consequences that Alice would bring down upon us. As our laughing subsided, Bella looked down at me and muttered, "I wish you knew what I was thinking right now." She looked into my eyes sheepishly, her face unable to blush. I still knew what she was trying to convey.

"Well," I said, smiling wickedly, "I caught a glimpse of our wedding night when I read your thoughts before. Is it related to that?"

She nodded her head slowly and silently as her mouth creased into that devilish smile once again.

"Well there aren't any beaches around here, but I think we can manage sans water," I smirked.

And with that, I rolled her onto her back, Bella submitting her overpowering strength to me, and whispered, "I love you my Bella."

"Forever," she whispered.

And for the first time, we were two immortals as one, and all was right with the world.


End file.
